A substrate treatment device includes a sheet-fed substrate treatment device that performs a substrate treatment one by one, and a batch-fed substrate treatment device that performs a substrate treatment by the unit of a predetermined number of sheets. As one of the batch-fed substrate treatment device, there is a portrait-oriented substrate treatment device including a portrait-oriented treatment furnace.
FIG. 19 shows a treatment furnace 1 of a portrait-oriented substrate treatment device of a previous type.
The treatment furnace 1 is provided with a heater 2, and a reaction tube 3 disposed inside of the heater 2. The reaction tube 3 is configured to include a quartz-made outer tube 4, and a quartz-made inner tube 5 concentrically disposed inside of the outer tune 4. The outer tube 4 and the inner tube 5 are disposed upright on a metal-made inlet flange 6. The lower end of the inlet flange 6 forms a furnace port section 7, and the furnace port section 7 is closed to be air tight by a sealing cap 8.
The inner tube 5 and the lower portion of the inlet flange 6 configure a reaction chamber 9, and a cylindrical space 11 is configured among the outer tube 4, the upper portion of the inlet flange 6, and the inner tube 5. The cylindrical space 11 and the reaction chamber 9 are linked together at the upper end.
On the sealing cap 8, a substrate retention member (boat) 12 is disposed upright, and the boat 12 keeps hold of substrates (wafers) 13 to be in the horizontal position in many layers. The wafers 13 are housed in the reaction chamber 9 while being retained by the boat 12.
The lower portion of the inlet flange 6 is connected with a gas guide nozzle 14 that is linked to the reaction chamber 9, and the upper portion of the inlet flange 6 is connected with a gas exhaustion tube 15 that is linked to the cylindrical space 11.
The sealing cap 8 is supported to be able to move up and down by a boat elevator that is not shown, and the boat 12 is so configured as to be attached/removed to/from the reaction chamber 9 by the boat elevator. In the state that the boat 12 is being moved down by the boat elevator, a substrate moving mechanism that is not shown performs loading and removing of the wafers 13 with respect to the boat 12.
For a treatment of the wafers 13, in the state that the boat 12 keeping hold of the wafers 13 is housed inside of the reaction chamber 9, and in the state that the reaction chamber 9 is sealed by the sealing cap 8 to be air tight, the reaction chamber 9 is reduced in pressure down to a treatment pressure or is remained in the state of atmospheric pressure. In the state that the reaction tube 3 and the wafers 13 are heated up to a treatment temperature by the heater 2, a treatment gas is directed by the gas guide nozzle 14. The treatment gas coming from the lower portion of the inlet flange 6 moves up in the reaction chamber 9, and makes a U-turn at the upper end of the inner tube 5 to go down in the cylindrical space 11, thereby being exhausted from the upper portion of the inlet flange 6 via the exhaustion tube 15.
In the course of the treatment gas flowing on the surfaces of the wafers 13, any predetermined treatment such as film formation is applied.
As is shown in the drawing, the inlet flange 6 is exposed from the heater 2 and is made of metal, thereby resulting in high heat dissipation and easy temperature reduction.
Between the outer tube 4 and the inlet flange 6, a sealing member is provided for sealing air tight, and for the purpose of preventing the sealing member from being burnt, the portion of the inlet flange 6 in the vicinity of the sealing member is being cooled.
In the course of the substrate treatment, the treatment gas is guided from the lower portion of the inlet flange 6, and passes over the surfaces of the wafers 13 so that film formation is done. The gas through with the treatment as such (hereinafter, exhausted gas) is exhausted after going through the upper portion of the inlet flange 6.
In the course of the exhaust gas passing through the inlet flange 6 and being exhausted from the exhaust tube 15, the temperature is reduced. As a result, the upper portion of the inlet flange 6 becomes available for easy attachment of any reaction by-product, and thus attached reaction by-product corrodes the metal. Moreover, if a polyimide baking process is executed, the temperature is reduced when the polyimide gas vaporized as a result of baking is exhausted, thereby possibly resulting in liquefaction. The polyimide liquefied as such becomes a cause of pollution with respect to the wafers 13, and also a cause of shortening the maintenance cycle such as removing any attached polyimide.
Moreover, if a cleaning process is executed, the cleaning gas corrodes the inlet flange 6 being a metal member, and the metal member emits metal atoms such as Fe and Cu, whereby the wafers 13 are polluted by the emitted metal at the atomic level.
Especially when a heat treatment is applied to a plurality of substrates each coated with a polyimide material and a Polybenzoxazole (PBO: Polybenzoxazole) material using a portrait-oriented reaction furnace, at the time of the heat treatment, any gas generated from the polyimide material due to the heat is attached inside of the reaction furnace. This gas attachment is made after liquefaction to a portion where the temperature is lower than 200 ° C. to 300 ° C. such as an exhaust path in the reaction furnace. Because such a heat treatment is repeatedly executed in the reaction furnace, every time a heat treatment is performed, the by-product to be attached inside of the reaction furnace will be increased.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-10-223548